Style Keeps On Trucking

Mobile Boutiques Sell Fashion From Repurposed Trucks

Schnitzel, waffles and spring rolls aren't the only treats that New Yorkers can buy on four wheels. Mobile boutiques are cropping up, peddling scarves, sweaters and baubles.

Rolling retailers, a mainstay on the West Coast, are appearing at flea markets, private parties and, occasionally, on city streets. The repurposed trucks offer clothes, jewelry and accessories in spaces where food products were once stored.

But while the entrepreneurs are excited about an affordable way to start a business and a novel backdrop for enticing customers, some are frustrated by city regulations that restrict the number of mobile businesses—and where they can set up shop.

Joey Wolffer, 31 years old of Manhattan, a great-great-granddaughter of a founder of the U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer, turned a 20-foot-long potato-chip delivery truck into the high-end Styleliner three years ago. The vehicle brims with hand-painted T-shirts and handbags from designers such as Beirut-based Sarah Beydoun, whose artisans are women in prison in Lebanon. Prices range from $30 to $1,800.

"We're just trying to keep retail interesting, because I think in these times, these economic times, you have to do different things," said Ms. Wolffer.

In between trips to Palm Beach, Fla., and the Hamptons, she and her business partner, Sara Droz, park for a few weeks in Lower Manhattan. She said they thought they were in compliance with the city's regulations.

But they weren't. Peddling is allowed on sidewalks and other public places with a general vendor license, though the city limits the number available to 853 at a time, and the waiting list for new ones is closed. (An exception is made for veterans.) But selling goods from a parked vehicle is prohibited, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Temporary street-fair vendor permits, though, are available for authorized fairs, block parties and festivals, a provision many fashion trucks are taking advantage of. Yolanda Rapp, 42, of Manhattan, for example, sells new fashions and vintage Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent from Le Fashion Coupe at the GreenFlea Market on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

While would-be merchants would like to see more options, the City Council has no plans to take up the issue, said City Councilman Daniel Garodnick, chairman of the council's Consumer Affairs Committee. Legislators are considering regulation changes for food trucks, which have exploded in popularity in recent years and are governed separately.

"This has not presented itself as a significant issue in New York City yet," he said. "The food trucks are already present and we are now trying to deal with a set of rules that make sense for them."

"We'll have to see whether they become a thing," he said.

San Francisco and Boston are considering regulations aimed at allowing the trucks room to operate while still protecting brick-and-mortar stores, such as considering locations where trucks can be permitted. Boston views the trucks as business incubators, said Lauren Shurtleff, a senior planner for the city.

"We want to foster that rather than turn our backs to it," she said.

Nationwide, the number of mobile fashion trucks appears to be growing. The American Mobile Retail Association has grown from five members in California in 2011 to about 70 nationwide, said Stacey Steffe, one of the founders who runs Le Fashion Truck in Los Angeles. She said buying and outfitting a truck could cost between $15,000 and $60,000.

Despite the fuzzy legal ground, mobile fashion trucks can be spotted across the city. Thirty-six-year-old Nneka Green-Ingram, a former sailor who has a coveted general vendor license, got sick of setting up shop along a sidewalk on 125th Street in Harlem where she operated for about four years. "I was tired of being outside, in the rain, snow, burning heat," she said.

So in November, she transformed a former Cheetos delivery truck into an emporium of jewelry, accessories and clothes and, when she isn't traveling, she is parked at the same spot on 125th Street. Her pieces are geared toward clients who want to dress like celebrities, she said.

Ms. Green-Ingram bristles at criticism from members of an Upper East Side community board. Michele Birnbaum, the chairwoman of Community Board 8's vendor task force, said she personally doesn't think New York City benefits from the proliferation of retail trucks. "I see no upside," she said.

For now, some trucks are sticking with spots in New Jersey, where some municipalities allow trucks to sell goods on the street. The Hoboken-based Chic Rattle and Roll was started in December by two new mothers, 28-year-old Danielle Mazzurco and Lisa Dunn, 35. It combines Ms. Mazzurco's love for rock 'n' roll and Ms. Dunn's more feminine style by peddling vintage Van Halen T-shirts and flowing dresses.

"We've gone through so many hoops to deal with all the issues in New York City," Ms. Mazzurco said.

Still, some fashionistas are hopeful that they someday could be parked on city streets. Jessie Goldenberg, 24, launched her truck, the bohemian-themed Nomad, last month. While she mostly operates in the suburbs, she longs to set up shop in Brooklyn.

And she is leaving behind her dreams of opening a brick-and-mortar boutique. "Now I want a fleet of trucks," she said.

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